Justification of Battery Parameters for the Power Supply of a Mobile Microwave Sterilizer

Abstract

Modern microwave devices are used not only in everyday life for heating food products but also in a wide variety of other fields. This is particularly true for medicine: microwave oscillations make it possible to effectively destroy pathogenic microflora during sterilization of equipment and materials. Recently, mobile microwave sterilizers designed for operation in field conditions have been gaining increasing popularity. The main functional element of such devices is a microwave oscillator - a magnetron (most often of the packaged type), whose operating mode is determined by the power supply. This paper presents the proposed system topology that enables the sterilizer to operate from DC power sources. A comparative analysis of the efficiency of using battery packs with nominal voltages of 12, 24, and 48 V is carried out. The limiting factors considered are: the capacity required for continuous operation for 30 minutes, technological constraints related to high currents and frequency modes (tens of kilohertz), and the possibility of equipping the system with modern power sources based on lithium-iron-phosphate $(\text{LiFePO}_{4}$) technology. Attention is paid to the startup mode of the device, in which the currents on the batteries increase by a factor of 1.5-2.0. Based on the analysis performed, recommendations are formulated for selecting the optimal battery voltage and capacity, ensuring a balance between electrical parameters, component availability, and the stringent weight and size requirements imposed on mobile medical equipment.